Ambidextrous sports glove and kit

ABSTRACT

An ambidextrous glove has partial finger sheaths and left- and right-side thumb openings, and portions of the palmer side of the glove and finger sheaths comprise fastening material. A ball is partially covered by a complementary fastening material so that the fastening material on the glove and the complementary fastening material on the ball releasably adhere to one another.

STATEMENT OF RELATED CASES

This case claims priority of U.S. Pat. Appl. Ser. 62/539,437, filed Jul. 31, 2017 and which is incorporated herein.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to a sports glove.

BACKGROUND

Enthusiasts and fans of throwing and catching sports marvel at the ability of highly accomplished athletes to make spectacular one-handed catches. Such catches often occur in the context of American football, when a quarterback throws a football to a receiver, who in turn catches the ball with one hand. The receiver's ability to catch a ball one-handed typically involves skills and abilities, such as physically having hands that can catch a ball one-handed, along with the physical coordination and mental concentration to make a one-handed catch. Furthermore, the wearing of a glove that improves a receiver's ability to grip the ball enhances the receiver's ability to make such catches.

The wearing of receiving gloves in football helps several players, such as a receiver to catch a ball, and a running back hold onto and/or catch a ball. Tactile football gloves improve the tackiness or adhesion of a ball to a player's hand, thereby improving a player's natural ability to receive and/or hold on to a ball.

Recreational players of football may be able to enhance their natural abilities to receive and/or hold on to a ball by wearing a tactile glove, but still may lack the ability to make the one-handed, often spectacular catches that remain in the realm of highly talented receivers. To improve enjoyment of playing football among recreational players, ranging from children to adolescents and even adults, there remains a need in the art for equipment that provides an entertaining, fun way to make one-handed catches that are beyond the realm of typical recreational players.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides a sports glove, and a kit including a sports glove and ball, that address the aforementioned need. In accordance with the present teachings, the glove has a unique structure that enables it to be worn on either the left hand or the right hand. In the illustrative embodiment, this capability is implemented by openings situated on the left and right edges of the glove, in the region at which a user's thumb would protrude. This enables the glove to be fitted over either a right or left thumb, and thereby worn on either the right or left hand.

In some embodiments, the glove has foreshortened finger-sheaths that partially cover the four fingers (“pinky” through index finger) of the wearer's glove hand. This further facilitates wearing the glove on either the right or left hand, since differences in the length of the four fingers will not result in any mismatch between the length of any of the finger sheaths with any of the fingers. That is, all fingers will extend fully through the foreshortened finger sheaths of the glove. In some embodiments, the surfaces of the palm and/or foreshortened finger sheaths of the glove have a tactile material.

In some embodiments, the glove is used in conjunction with a ball that has a reciprocally tactile material on its surface. The reciprocally tactile mating or fastening material enhances the glove-wearer's ability to catch the ball. Users of the glove and ball combination will typically include one person throwing the ball to a receiver who is wearing the glove.

An ambidextrous sports glove in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includes: a palmar portion; a dorsal portion, wherein the palmar portion and the dorsal portion are contiguous with each other; a plurality of partial finger sheaths extending from the palmar and dorsal portions; and a right-side thumb opening and a left-side thumb opening on respective side edges of the sports glove.

A sports kit in accordance with an embodiment of the invention includes: an ambidextrous sports glove as defined above, and a ball, wherein the ball is at least partially covered by a fastening material, wherein the fastening material on the glove and the fastening material on the ball releasably adhere to one another.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts a dorsal view of a glove in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 depicts a palmar view of a glove in accordance with an illustrative embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 shows a ball for use with the glove of FIGS. 1 and 2.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning now to the figures, FIG. 1 depicts a dorsal (i.e., back-of-the-hand) view of glove 2, and FIG. 2 depicts a palmar view 4 of glove 2. As depicted in these figures, the glove has partial finger sheaths 8, a dorsal covering portion 10, thumb openings 12 and 14, and a wrist closure.

Partial finger sheaths 8 enable portions of a wearer's fingers to protrude from glove 2. The partial finger sheaths contribute to the ambidextrous nature of the glove, since the partial sheaths readily slide over the fingers of a right hand or left hand. That is, if one tried to insert an index finger (of the left hand) into a conventional pinky-finger sheath of a right-handed glove, the finger would probably be too long and not fit properly within the sheath. Similarly, if one inserted the pinky finger (of the left hand) into a conventional index-finger sheath of the same right-handed glove, the sheath would probably be too long, such that there would be excess sheath material. The result would be a very poor fit. The use of partial finger sheaths 8 avoids this issue.

In some embodiments, partial finger sheaths 8 cover the wearer's four fingers extending from the base of the fingers to about the level of the first knuckle of each finger. In some other embodiments, partial finger sheaths 8 are somewhat longer in length. Any length is acceptable as long as partial sheaths 8 enable glove 2 to be worn, with a satisfactory fit, on the wearer's right hand or left hand.

In some other embodiments (not depicted), rather than having partial finger sheaths 8, the glove has a mitten-type configuration, in which there is a single, large opening that accommodates all four fingers. Preferably, the mitten portion partially covers the four fingers, thereby enabling the glove/mitten to be worn on either the right hand or the left hand. The mitten portion covering the fingers may extend beyond the palm to any desirable length, as long as it enables the aforementioned ambidextrous use.

Dorsal covering portion 10 covers the majority of the dorsal portion of a wearer's hand and wraps around to the palmar portion of the glove. (This portion, in addition to the dorsal and palmer partial finger sheaths, is commonly referred to as the “trank”).

Glove 2 includes left-side thumb opening 12, which enables a wearer's right thumb to protrude from the glove when the glove is worn on the right hand. And the glove includes right-side thumb opening 14, which enables a wearer's left thumb to protrude from the glove when the glove is worn on the left hand. Thus, thumb openings 12 and 14 on the sides of glove 10, in conjunction with partial finger sheaths 8, facilitates ambidextrous or “reversible” use of the glove.

Glove 2 is secured to the hand by a wrist closure, which in the illustrative embodiment includes flap 16 and receiving portion 18, wherein the former stretches over and releasably secures to the latter. To accomplish this, in the illustrative embodiment, the facing surfaces of flap 16 and receiving portion 18 are covered, respectively, with the “hooks” and “loops,” or vice versa, of hook-and-loop fastener material (e.g., VELCRO® brand, etc.). In this fashion, the two facing surfaces will releasably couple to one another so that the wrist closure snugs the glove to the wrist/hand. The fastening material could be made of any of a number of releasable, adhering materials, as known in the art.

As depicted in FIG. 2, palmar side 4 of glove 2 is partially covered with fastening material. In particular, the palmar side of individual partial finger sheaths 8 are partially covered with portions 22 of fastening material, and the palm is partially covered with portions 24 of fastening material.

Portions 22 and 24 are attached to glove 2 by being sewn thereto, adhered thereto, or otherwise integrated into palmar side 4, in ways familiar to those skilled in the art. In the illustrative embodiment, there are four discrete portions 24 of fastening material located in/on the palm. In the illustrative embodiment, the fastening material used on portions 22 and 24 is either the “hooks” or the “loops” of hook-and-loop fastener. In some other embodiments, the fastening material is made of any of a number of other releasable, adhering materials, as known in the art.

In some other embodiments (not depicted), the fastening material is applied as two “horizontally” oriented segments, one situated just above the distal palmar (the location at which the hand “folds” or creases as the fingers are moved towards the palm), and the other just below it. In some other embodiments, a single relatively larger region of fastening material can be used that covers much of the palm, but this is not preferable, because it can restrict free bending movement of the hand.

The lower portion of palmar side 4 of glove 2 includes stretchable material/stitching 26. This helps to fit the glove to the wrist/hand, in conjunction with the previously discussed wrist closure.

Glove 2 is preferably used with a complementary ball, such as football shaped ball 6, depicted in FIG. 3. In the embodiment shown, a majority of ball 6 is covered with fastening material 26, which is interspersed with a smooth, non-fastening material 28, such as leather, synthetic leather, vinyl, etc. In the illustrative embodiment, fastening material 26 is the complementary portion of the hook-and-loop fastener used on partial finger sheaths 8 and portions 22 and 24 of the glove. For example, if partial finger sheaths 8 and portions 22 and 24 comprise the “hooks,” then fastening material 26 comprises the “loops,” assuming hook-and-loop fastener is being used.

Thus, palmar side 4 of glove is at least partially covered by a fastening/mating material that enables the glove to releasably couple to ball 6, which is covered, at least in part, with a reciprocal fastening/mating material. Ideally, the fastening/mating material enables multiple, repetitive use of the glove and ball combination without significant loss of the ability of the two to adhere to one another. As previously mentioned, in preferred embodiments, the fastening/mating material is hook-and-loop material, such as Velcro® brand.

Although ball 6 is depicted in the form of an (American) football, the ball can have a different configuration, such as spherical, and can be of any size (e.g., baseball-size, soccer-ball size, etc.). The adhering material used on ball 6 will enable it to be readily thrown; that is, it should not inhibit release of the ball. In this regard, to the extent that hook-and-loop fastener is used as fastening material 26, it should be the “softer” material (i.e., the loops) that adheres to the “hook” material that is applied to/covers glove 2.

Glove 2 (e.g., the trank, fourchettes, etc.) is constructed of any material typically used for athletic type gloves, such as various synthetic materials or blends (e.g., nylon, polyester, silicone, etc.), faux leather, leather, a mix of faux and real leather, impregnated leather, and the like. In a preferred embodiment, the glove will be made of a material that allows the glove to stretch, thereby conforming to various shapes and sizes of hands. The glove will also be sized for a targeted wearer or user. In this regard, the glove may be sized for use in various youth, adolescent, and adult sizes. Such sizes include, but are not limited to, extra-small, small, medium, large, extra-large in youth, adolescent, and adult size ranges.

While the present invention has been described as having particular configurations disclosed herein, the present invention can be further modified within the spirit and scope of this disclosure. This application is therefore intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention using its general principles. Further, this application is intended to cover such departures from the present disclosure as come within known or customary practice in the art to which this invention pertains and which fall within the limits of the appended claims. 

We claim:
 1. An ambidextrous sports glove, comprising: a palmar portion, a dorsal portion, wherein the palmar portion and the dorsal portion are contiguous with each other; a plurality of partial finger sheaths extending from the palmar and dorsal portions; and a right-side thumb opening and a left-side thumb opening on respective side edges of the sports glove.
 2. The sports glove of claim 1 and further comprising a wrist closure.
 3. The sports glove of claim 1 further comprising fastening material, wherein the fastening material at least partially covers the palmar portion of the glove and a palmar side of at least some of the partial finger sheaths of the plurality thereof.
 4. The sports glove of claim 3 wherein the fastening material is hook-and-loop fastener.
 5. The sports glove of claim 3 wherein the fastening material on the palmar portion of the glove is disposed in discrete regions thereon.
 6. The sports glove of claim 5 in which there are four discrete regions of fastening material on the palmar portion of the glove.
 7. A sports kit, comprising: an ambidextrous sports glove, the ambidextrous sports glove having a palmar portion, wherein the palmar portion is at least partially covered by first fastening material; a dorsal portion, wherein the palmar portion and the dorsal portion are contiguous with each other; a plurality of partial finger sheaths extending from the palmar and dorsal portions, wherein a palmar side of at least some of the partial finger sheaths is at least partially covered by first fastening material; a right-side thumb opening and a left-side thumb opening on respective side edges of the sports glove; and a ball, wherein the ball is at least partially covered by a second fastening material, wherein the first fastening material and the second fastening material releasably adhere to one another. 